Nats Update – Part Five

‘Mini-season’ number five is in the books (has been for awhile – sorry for the slow update) and things are still looking bleak for the Nationals, but they did make some moves that have produced some occasional good baseball and some hope for a better future.  They finished the fifth segment of the season 5-13, a game worse than the last segment.   But, they fired Manny Acta as manager at the All-Star break and they acquired a few promising players (Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett) from the Pirates in a late June trade.  Pitching and defense continue to be problem areas, although Morgan and Burnett have helped address both of those weaknesses.  Acta was too passive as a game-day manager/leader and the change to Jim Riggleman seems to have put a spark in the team.  The offense continues to struggle at times with poor clutch hitting, but also shows flashes of greatness.  Put all that together and things are still not looking great, but at least there is still promise.  The Nats have gone 6-9 since the All-Star break, have matched their season-long win streak of four games, and have been playing better defense of late.  Could it be that we have something positive to look forward to in the remaining 60 games?  Here’s hoping!

Mini-season 1: 4-14

Mini-season 2: 7-11

Mini-season 3: 4-14

Mini-season 4: 6-12

Mini-season 5: 5-13

Season Total: 32-70

Projected season record: 51-111

 

Nats Update – Part Four

‘Mini-season’ number four is in the books and things are still looking bleak for the Nationals, but they did show flashes of good baseball (and hopefully, what is to come).  They finished the fourth segment of the season 6-12, two games better than the last segment.  Pitching continues to be a problem, followed closely by defense.  The offense has  problems of it’s own – namely poor clutch hitting .  Put all that together and things are not looking good.  However, the Nats did win four in a row against the Yankees and Blue Jays in the latter half of June, showing the promise of the way things could be.  Unfortunately, since that streak, the Nats have reverted back to their previous form, once again raising the question, “How patient can we be?”

The All-Star break is almost upon us.  At the half-way point, we pretty much know what kind of team we have.  However, the break provides the opportunity for a fresh start.  Here’s hoping the Nats come out and play some great baseball and give Washington fans a reason to fall in love with the team!

Mini-season 1: 4-14

Mini-season 2: 7-11

Mini-season 3: 4-14

Mini-season 4: 6-12

Season Total: 22-53

Projected season record: 48-114

 

Nats Church Group Night Game Recap

Our church group attended the Nats vs. Toronto Blue Jays game on Friday, June 19.  I’ve been out-of-town almost every day since then, so that is why this post is late in coming.  The Nats won the game 2-1 in 11 innings. on Adam Dunn’s walk-off single with the bases loaded.  (Last year’s church group night game also went to extra innings.)  That makes the Nats 3-0 when I see a game in person at the new ballpark.  It was a fun night hanging out with folks from the church.  The game was not well-played by either team, but the Nats did just enough to win.  The won the next night (also in extra innings) to complete a season-high four game winning streak.  Here are a few pictures from the night:

The view from our seats – not too bad!

Adam Dunn’s game-winning hit!

Nationals Win! (Only win #19 for the year.)

 

Nats Update – Part Three

‘Mini-season’ number three is in the books (despite all the rainy weather) and things are still looking bleak for the Nationals.  They finished the third segment of the season 4-14, three games worse than the last segment and equaling their horrible first segment.  Pitching continues to be the main problem, followed closely by defense.  The offense has also cooled off some.  Put those three together and things are not looking good.  On June 6, we saw a glimpse of what could be – a well-played 7-1 victory over the Mets.  Good pitching, good defense, and clutch hitting all show the potential that awaits Nats fans.  Unfortunately, that potential is shown only rarely.  How patient can we be?

A key moment for the franchise occured yesterday.  The Nats drafted two pitchers with the number 1 and number 10 picks in the draft.  Stephen Strasburg, hyped as the best pitching prospect ever, was chosen with the number 1 pick.  The key will be signing him – after all, he is represented by Scott Boras, who is looking to set a record with this contract.  The Nats have until mid-August to get a deal done.  Who knows – by that time the Nats might have the right to select next year’s number 1 pick sewn up?  They’ve already signed their other top-ten pick, Drew Storen.  Here’s hoping he knows what he’s getting himself into.

Mini-season 1: 4-14

Mini-season 2: 7-11

Mini-season 3: 4-14

Season Total: 15-41

Projected season record: 43-119 (would be a record number of losses for a Washington team and dangerously close to the MLB record)

 

Tenth Anniversary and National Doughnut Day

Today is Randa’s and my 10th anniversary.  Ten years ago today, in Bellmead, Texas, in front of our families and friends, we pledged our love to each other.  We exchanged rings and vows.  We took lots of pictures.  And we began our life together with dreams of a wonderful future.  It’s been a good ten years.  We’ve moved from Hewitt to Seguin to Alexandria, VA.  We’ve had three beautiful daughters expand our family.  We’ve continued to love each other and haved stayed steadfastly committed to each other.  We’ve experienced some of our dreams, and as we celebrate our first ten years together we are excited about what the future is going to hold.

Today, we exhanged cards and small gifts.  Tonight, we went to Applebee’s to celebrate.  Why Applebee’s?  Let me tell you a story.  I was a seminary student and part-time youth minister who had just about given up hope of finding that special woman.  In fact, I had decided to stop dating for awhile, since my most recent experiences had not been too pleasant.  One of my youth parents/workers asked me if I’d be willing to go on a blind date.  She and some of the youth told me all about Randa and encouraged me to meet her.  They all said she was a cute, nice, strong Christian woman.  She was an English teacher.  She was smart.  She had even lost some weight recently.  (Their salesmanship skills could have used a little work.)  But, they did seem to really think we would hit it off and I said I would meet her.  I met Randa on a blind date on April 5, 1998.  We had lunch at Applebee’s in Waco with two other couples we both knew.  We had a good time.  We went on our next date on April 11th and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here’s some pictures from tonight:

We also enjoyed (after dinner) some free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, because today is not only our anniversary, but it is also National Doughnut Day.  It was a good day and night!

 

Portable Faith and My New Soccer Team

This weekend, I’ll be leading a mini-retreat with my good friend Josh’s youth group.  It should be lots of fun to hang out again with Josh and his group.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how the idea of portable faith practices goes over with his students.  I’ll blog more about it after it’s over.  For now, to give an idea of how fun it should be, here’s a picture of the T-shirt:

Yes, that’s a port-o-potty on a T-shirt!  

 

Earlier this month, I attended the Summer Youth Ministry Conference sponsored by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.  While there, I met a guy from England named Dennis Pethers.  He was one of the conference presenters.  He hung out late into the night with a group of us talking about soccer and theology.  It was a good night.  Dennis is a supporter of Everton.  I’ve never really followed any one English club, although I did follow Reading pretty closely until they were relegated.  I’ve mostly just followed some players and enjoyed the great soccer.  After meeting Dennis, I’ve decided to start following Everton.  After seeing their shirts, I know I’ve made the right choice.

Everton takes on Chelsea tomorrow in the final of the FA Cup, the world’s oldest domestic football cup competition.  Go Toffees!

 

Nats Update – Part Two

‘Mini-season’ number two is in the books and the Nats have only slightly improved their play.  They finished the second segment of games with a 7-11 record, three games better than the first.  Ryan Zimmerman saw his hitting streak end at 30 games, but he’s reached base safely in 42 straight games.  Adam Dunn keeps proving that he was a good signing.  The young starting pitchers are showing talent.  Progress is being made, but they (still) are struggling mightily with their defense and their relief pitching.  The season is long and they should get better as the season progresses.  They have lots of young talent, but with young talent you must have patience.  And that is not a word that is understood in these parts.  The fans are staying away (although the stadium was about 3/4 full instead of 1/2 full for the series with Baltimore).  I think the Nats will be a good team in a few years (at least by 2011).  At least for now, they are an exciting team to watch.  They may not win many games, but they sure make things interesting (or frustrating, depending on your point of view).  I’m looking forward to June 19.  That’s when 25 of us from the church are going to see the Nats play against the Blue Jays.  Last year I saw the Nats beat the Rangers and the Pirates.  I hope they keep their undefeated record in the new stadium when I’m present intact.  Here’s hoping!

Mini-season 1: 4-14

Mini-season 2: 7-11

Season Total: 13-30

Projected season record: 48-114 (would be a record number of losses for a Washington team)

 

Art or Goofing Off?

Here are some pictures of me and Annie that we took yesterday.  It was lots of fun!

 

Nats Update – Part One

Baseball has a rather long season – 162 games plus the playoffs.  You can break the season down into nine segments of 18 games each.  Each of these ‘mini-seasons’ can be telling; if you can win 10-12 games in each of these segments, you have a very good chance of making the post-season.  The Nats finished up the first 18-game segment by winning 3 of the last 7 games.  Unfortunately, they only won 1 of the first 11 games.  So, the Nats finished the first ‘mini-season’ with a 4-14 record.  NOT GOOD.  The defense and pitching has been terrible.  Hitting, except in clutch situations, has improved drastically.  Adam Dunn was a great signing.  Ryan Zimmerman is playing well, sporting a 17-game hitting streak.  Alas, I fear my prediction of 75 wins may be several dozen too many if things (particularly defense, starting pitching, and bullpen) don’t change in a hurry.  Of course, there are eight more ‘mini-seasons’ – eight more chances to improve and settle down into a more positive groove.  Of course, the Nats started the second ‘mini-season’ the same way they did the first, with a 6-run loss after another poor effort from the ‘ace’ of the staff.

Mini-season 1: 4-14

Season Total: 4-15

Projected season record: 36-126 (would be a modern-day record for futility)

Previous worst Washington baseball team records:

1904 Washington Senators 38-113

1909 Washington Senators 42-110

1949 Washington Nationals 50-104

1955 Washington Nationals 53-101

1961 Washington Senators 61-101

1962 Washington Senators 60-101

1963 Washington Senators 56-106

1964 Washington Senators 62-100

2008 Washington Nationals 59-102

 

Christ on a Donkey

The following is a blog entry I wrote for our church’s Lenten blog.  (Sorry to be posting it so late.)

Have you ever studied the expressions on people’s faces? You can really tell a lot by looking at a person’s face. You can see the sorrow on the face of a relative after they experienced the loss of a loved one in another of our country’s tragic shootings. You can see the sense of happiness and celebration on the face of the basketball player whose team will play for the championship Monday night. You can see the innocence of a child when you look at their face as they listen to you read them a story. Nouwen looks at the face of Jesus in a sculpture at the Augustiner Museum in Freiburg, and sees something that is out of place with the scene. The scene is excited, noisy, and celebratory as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, but Nouwen sees that Jesus is thinking about something else. He is thinking about “an agonizing journey of betrayal, torture, crucifixion, and death.” Nouwen sees in the face of Jesus melancholy, peaceful acceptance, insight into the fickleness of the human heart, immense compassion, an awareness of pain, determination to do God’s will, and above all, an endless, deep, and far-reaching love. When you imagine Jesus riding on the donkey, what do you see in his face?

Nouwen is reminded every time he looks at this sculpture of Jesus that he is “seen by him with all my sins, guilt, and shame and loved with all his forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.” Let us take comfort in knowing that Jesus sees us for all that we are and loves us fully, with the love that was present in his face as he rode on a donkey on that Palm Sunday.